Monday, January 16, 2017

#Creative365 | Week 1-2

I've had several failed attempts at a 365 day challenge before, but somehow I still wanted to come back to the idea. So I decided to quietly start one on January 1st 2017, and wait a couple of weeks to see if I could actually pull it off. So far, so good.

During my past attempts I felt like I had to have massive variety in what I was showing, but this year I am much more focused on ACTUALLY FINISHING THINGS. There may end up being multiple photos of the same project, but I think that will be an interesting progression to look back on, and it will be a good learning experience to work out different ways of photographing the same project. I'm also going to be much easier on myself this time, allowing any art challenges I do to count as part of this 365 day challenge, if needs be. So without further ado, let's dive right in.

On days 1 and 2 I worked on dividers for my planner, making simpler ones for each month...

and some very colourful and eclectic collage dividers for the different sections.

On day 3 I got a little overexcited at the realisation that all those trendy drape-y cardigans with pointed hems that are around at the moment are basically big knitted rectangles with sleeves. So of course I had to immediately cast on for one.

On day 4 I continued with and existing trendy drape-y pointy hemmed garment project, knitting the Nix hoodie. I'm using a double yarn, as I wanted to use up this gorgeous deep red yarn but it wasn't quite the right weight. The hoodie is knitted with deliberate mistakes and changes in gauge for a slightly goth-y/costumes-from-a-dystopian-film effect.

On days 5, 6 and 7 I needle felted some toadstools of varying sizes. I want to make a mini rainbow toadstool garland, and I also want to work on some bigger needle felted fungi. I'm aiming to use up the randomly selected supplies I got when I started felting, so that I can buy specific colours and amounts for specific projects in future.

On days 8 to 11 I worked on watercolour paintings of various gemstones, for the Gemstones streak club. After four days I decided to leave the streak, because as much as I wanted to take part and loved being a part of it, the timing was all wrong for me. With still unpacking boxes from moving, commuting, and settling into the new place, I didn't have the time to devote to producing art work I was proud of, photographing it and uploading it each day. I would still really like to work on practising drawing and painting gemstones another time, especially after seeing the translucent effects I can get with watercolour.

On day 12 I worked on a little polymer clay castle tower. I recently got some new tools for using with polymer clay an I am loving being able to achieve fine detail.

On day 13 I did a little more on the Nix hoodie, which is still resembling a large, holey rectangle but I trust will turn into a garment by the end!

And on day 14 I cut out some gorgeous wood grain print velvet, for a matching top and skirt. I love dresses but I don't really have enough separates, so I thought I would try making some matching top and skirt sets as a compromise.

So that was the first two weeks of Creative365! I hope the rest of the year is filled with even more creativity...